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| The Hobbs Clan - Christmas 2016 |
*I didn't take any pictures this Christmas, so thanks to Sam and Kiley and Jared and Jenny for their pictures! Yay!
Christmas this year was absolutely wonderful! We invited Jared and Jenny's family to spend Christmas with us, and boy was it fun! It was a big change from our usual Christmas tradition of spending the holidays with the Dunlap side - so far, we had only spent 2 out of 9 Christmases with my side of the family. We definitely missed spending time with the Dunlaps, but it was SO nice doing some major bonding with my siblings, their families, and my folks!
Jenny and I decided to keep their visit a secret from everyone. The secret slowly unraveled as all of my siblings and my dad found out for one reason or another, but luckily we were able to keep the secret from my mom! It was awesome!
I wanted to make sure everyone kept their schedules open, so that the whole family could spend a lot of time together during Jared and Jenny's visit. I emailed the family a schedule of activities that the "Dunlap family" wanted to do during the holidays:
- 12/24 - A Christmas Eve Breakfast (with a "favorite things" gift exchange for the adults and a Beanie Boo exchange for the cousins)
- 12/26 - Snow Day followed by a Bonfire Dinner
- 12/27 - Morning Temple Outing
- 12/28 - Appetizer and Game Night
I loved seeing my mom's reaction when Jared and Jenny arrived at the Christmas Eve breakfast (btw, we had 3 kinds of quiche and fresh cinnamon rolls! Mmm!). They got there after everyone else and we opened the door to their family dressed up in Christmas sweaters, holding their new dog Chloe, and the boys saying "Merry Christmas!" So cute! My mom kept saying she felt like she was having an "out of body experience." Ha ha! It was a wild and crazy morning with all nine cousins together (ages 9, 6, 5, 5, 3, 3, 2, 1, 1) but it was so nice!
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| I woke up at 5am to make those suckers! What monsters! |
We had Jared and Jenny's family spend the night on Christmas Eve, so we could do Christmas morning together. We had tacos for dinner, looked at lights, decorated cookies, acted out the nativity, and sent the kids to bed! Mario slept in the boys' closet, and Milo slept on the bean bag chair unfolded. Jared read the boys a story to put them to sleep - so cute! Jared and Seb and I capped the night watching a Christmas classic - Die Hard. Ha ha.
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| SOOOOO many sprinkles!!! |
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| Santa's gonna get diabetes! |
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| Fun with the cousins |
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| Our little Christmas village |
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| Milo trying on costumes for the nativity |
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| The angel declaring Christ's birth to our little shepherd |
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| The sweetest little baby Jesus surrounded by animals in the stable |
It was a typical Christmas morning with stockings full, presents spilling from beneath the tree, and messy haired kids with eyes full of wonder. Hudson's big gift this year was a Star Wars Lego set, and Beau got an awesome Paw Patrol puppy set from my parents. Hannah's favorite gift was a sad little baby doll and a doll stroller. My parents joined us for breakfast (breakfast casserole and waffles) and we decided to skip church so we could stay in our jammies and keep opening presents! Yay! I think we had meatball subs for lunch and joined my parents at their home for a really, really late fajita dinner. Hudson and Mario really hit it off - they played together the whole time and get along like best friends!
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| The Hobbs boys discovered eaten cookies EARRRRLY in the morning! |
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| Cousin love! |
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| A Christmas I will always cherish! |
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| We adore this family! |
Snow Day was a hit - we weren't sure we'd find snow, but there was just enough of it to have a good time. Most of us met up on the other side of the mountain where my parents found a nice little sledding hill. The kids (and grownups!) had a blast zooming down that mountain! I took Hannah down a few times - she looked petrified as a pulled her up the hill, but every time we reached the bottom I'd ask her if she wanted to go again and she'd say "yes." The little ones quickly got cold, so my mom offered to watch them in our van while they ate donuts and watched "Paw Patrol." After sledding, my parents treated everyone to Dion's for lunch. That night, we invited those who could to come over and roast hot dogs and marshmallows. We also played "Codenames" - my new favorite game!
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| Petrified baby Hannah |
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| Papa's boy! |
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| Those two sure look cozy! |
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| Having the time of their lives! |
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| What a sweet shot |
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| I'm loving their colors! |
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| So glad no one was seriously injured (there was a puppy drag as well as several near boulder misses!) |
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| Fun with Grandpa |
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| Uncle Sam was a sledding beast! |
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| Grandpa has the best snow gear |
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| We were too heavy! |
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| Wahoo! |
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| Gotta remember this run! |
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| His first solo run! |
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| Hit the brakes, woman! |
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| Oh yeah! |
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| I love this cute little man! |
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| This guy was an excellent sledder! |
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| Here comes Jenny! |
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| Yay! She did it! |
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| Poor Sam got stuck in the snow - luckily, Jared and his winch came to the rescue! |
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| Some much needed time by the fire |
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| Sweethearts |
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| Seb lives for the fire! |
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| Oye - our sassy little woman - who knows what's happening here! |
Mario and Milo spent the night so they could hang with my kids and the babysitter while everyone went to the temple the following day. Sadly, my babysitter had to bail the morning of, so Seb watched the kids instead. Thanks, honey! I loved huddling together in the Celestial room with almost everyone in my family. It always reminds me of what dying might be like - a happy little reunion! After the temple, we all met up at Red Robin and were able to snatch a huge table outside. It was great being seated on the patio because the kids could run wild and the grownups could all catch up.
Wednesday was another fun day - my mom offered to babysit our kids so we could go on a double date with Jared and Jenny to Santa Fe! We were able to meet their newest renter, see the updates to their home, have lunch, and do some vinegar and oil tasting. I really love spending time with those two - they are so fun to hang out with.
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| Jenny is so gorgeous! |
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| What a fun date! |
On their last night in town, everyone gathered together again for a final night of appetizers, desserts, and games at our house. Shauna made delicious pot stickers, my mom made yummy egg rolls, and I made some BBQ meatballs and pumpkin bars! The food disappeared almost instantly! Ha ha! We played Curses and Mafia (a family favorite!) Whew! That about sums up our Hobbs family Christmas! This may be the last one for a LOOOOONG time, since everyone is parting ways in the next few years. So glad it was a memorable one!
1 comment:
Jessica, you were the most awesome and loving hostess for Jared and Jenny's family. Thank you so much for planning the holiday activities and for coordinating their visit! I love you dearly.
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